Town renews $1.4 million Schumacher House commitment

Janelle Clausen
Supervisor Judi Bosworth, Marianna Wolgemuth, member of the New Hyde Park District Advisory Committee, and Council Member Lee Seeeman look over the improvements made to the Schumacher House. (Photo courtesy of the Town of North Hempstead)
Supervisor Judi Bosworth, Marianna Wolgemuth, member of the New Hyde Park District Advisory Committee, and Town Councilwoman Lee Seeeman look over the improvements made to the Schumacher House. (Photo courtesy of the Town of North Hempstead)

North Hempstead reaffirmed the historic importance of the Schumacher House in its recently approved 2019-2023 capital plan, once more outlaying about $1.4 million to renovate the structure.

The Schumacher House has played many roles, including that of colonial home to the Cornell and Nostrand families, guest house for World War II workers, nursery school for the children of United Nations personnel, and space for community events.

And in a few years, it might add the role of educational resource.

“The Capital Plan includes the continued restoration of the Schumacher House at [Clinton G. Martin] Park, for which the Town has already received nearly $500,000 in grants,” Bosworth said in a statement on the plan. “Once restored, Schumacher House will serve as a link to the past and educate residents about our local history.”

The home, which was abandoned in 1990, is named after the Schumacher family, which purchased it in the early 1950s. It was then moved half a mile east from the southeast intersection of Marcus Avenue and Lakeville Road in Lake Success to its current location in New Hyde Park.

The work will include “structural upgrades,” the plan says. $125,000 is slated for fiscal 2019. Fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021 will each see $650,000 worth of investment. No spending is planned for fiscal 2022 and 2023.

Carole Trottere, a town spokeswoman, previously said that future work will include replacing exterior windows and shutter and extensive interior restoration.

This capital plan roughly matches the 2018-2022 capital plan. In fiscal 2018 it had called for $100,000 and $650,000 in the following two fiscal years.

The town recently installed new siding to protect the structure and make it more stable and watertight. Prior to that, it also added a cedar roof, copper gutters, reconstructing a chimney, used new timber to reinforce the timber, and added covers over the windows.

The Town’s Historic Landmarks Preservation Commission suggested landmarking the building in 2004. Ultimately, the Town Board approved doing so on March 15, 2005.

Marianna Wohlgemuth, a New Hyde Park civic leader, previously said the town had once allowed the historic home to fall into a disrepair. This prompted her and others to push for giving the home landmark status and restoring it so it wouldn’t be demolished.

“We are experiencing a renaissance,” Wohlgemuth previously said. “It is like a metamorphosis, because you have an administration that appreciates our cultural history and our heritage.”

The Schumacher House is one of only 18 town landmarks.

The Schumacher House was then added to the New York Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

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